Maasin Cathedral now a national shrine

The Maasin Cathedral Church in Maasin, Southern Leyte was officially declared the National Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption, Ang Mahal na Patrona, and the First National Shrine and Eastern Visayas.

Archbishop of Manila Cardinal Jose Advincula led the homily during the Solemn Declaration of the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Assumption on Wednesday.

“This cathedral church is not just a place of gathering but also a place of missioning. This church is not just a receiving church but also a giving church,” Advincula said.

“The community is not just a praying community but also a caring community,” he added.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines approved the Maasin diocese’s petition to declare its cathedral as a national shrine during their plenary assembly on 6 July.

It is now one of the only 30 national shrines in the country and the first in the Eastern Visayas Region.

On 13 August 2022, the cathedral’s venerated image of Our Lady of the Assumption received a pontifical coronation in a ceremony led by papal nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown.